Just Like Old Times
by Pyromeekorai
Summary: SteinxSpirit fic. A bit more touchy than "Road to Victorious Status" but, no lemons to be found.  Sorry if that's what you were looking forXD  Anyway, Spirit needs help cleaning the attic and he ropes Stein into assisting him.


Okay, first off, this is from about 3 years ago so go easy on me here^^; the pairing is SteinxSpirit from Soul Eater. So, if you don't like the pairing(or shonen-ai) then don't read. Obvious ideas. For those of you who do like it, enjoy~!

"Sempai," Stein began, giving an agitated crank to the oversized screw through his head, "would you care to remind me what I'm doing here?"  
Here was, at the moment, in Spirit's cluttered muddle of an attic. Mountain ranges of boxes and old keepsake piles rose up in daunting stacks from wall to wall. Dust clung to most of the objects in the room and even seemed to hang onto the air particles. Not to mention that the dissection-happy master was sure he had heard some very large animal (or animals) scurry in the walls naught but a few minutes ago. The place, as a whole, seemed like an area that should be shut away and quarantined as soon as possible.  
Spirit hoisted a considerably hefty box onto a nearby tower of cardboard, instituting a small explosion of dust. He coughed loudly and brushed his hands off against each other.  
"You're here because I asked you to be." Spirit answered bluntly.  
"Sempai, that wasn't my question." Stein replied dryly. "I meant why did I actually agree to what you asked?"  
The scythe sighed in a highly overdramatic fashion before offering his answer.  
"Maka said that my house was starting to look like a dump and she wouldn't come visit until I tidied it up a bit. So I have to toss some junk from up here away so I can make room for stuff from downstairs."  
"And I'm helping….why?"  
Spirit, needless to say, was exasperated by the time he spat back his final part of the explanation.  
"BECAUSE there might be some stuff that you want to keep from these piles, BECAUSE I gave you permission to dissect any vermin living up here and, most important, BECAUSE I ASKED YOU TO HELP!" There was a moment of silence as Spirit took a moment to fume and catch his breath.  
"I don't see why you couldn't have just said that to begin with." was all the very calm Stein had to offer.  
Spirit emitted something between a large growl and a man-screech as he began to tear at his already unkempt red hair. Stein, meanwhile, was rummaging through the box in front of him labeled 'box of horrors' to see if there was indeed anything worth keeping. He pushed and scooped past old failed assignments from class, divorce papers and remains from less than satisfactory haircuts. As he lifted out a ball of wadded up photographs held together with a red rubber band, his interest came to a peak. He began to carefully unfold the photos, so as not to damage them further, and thumbed through them. When he realized what they were, a sadistic grin began to curl across his face.  
Spirit's commiserating was broken suddenly by an enormous outburst from Stein. The man's crazed and overall creepy laughter filled the room, strangling Spirit with a mixture of fear and confusion. Not liking the situation, he took a few shaky steps back.  
"Sempai," smiled Stein as soon as his guffawing had died down. "you remember these, right?" Stein thrust the pictures in Spirit's direction with a smug little smirk. Spirit took the photographic wad from his wielder hesitantly. His eyes widened in pent up horror as he gradually came to terms with his frightful mementos.  
The pictures contained a Stein and Spirit who were much younger than their current ages. Back from their days in Shibusen, to be accurate. One would assume these were brighter days, however, Stein was the only one smiling. While Spirit remembered that he used to get experimented on by his partner in his sleep, he had forgotten a very important detail. At one time, Stein took pictures of his little dissection escapades and sent them to his mortified companion. The photo on top was one of the first. The camera had been held at arms' length to capture all elements of the scene. Spirit was knocked out, most likely by some kind of drug, and strapped with large belts to his bed. The skin of the poor boy's stomach was held open by medical pliers, leaving his moist and utterly vulnerable innards exposed. The finishing touch was a manically smiling Stein in the foreground, brandishing a newly extracted, unknown piece of organ. Spirit dared not look at the others.  
"Brings back memories, doesn't it Sempai?" sneered Stein.  
"Not exactly good ones." replied his victim with a shudder. Spirit re crumpled the clump of pictures and tossed it at the throw-away pile. Stein's brow knitted together as it hit the stack with a soft 'thap'.  
"You're just going to throw those memories away?"  
"Hm?" Spirit raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "Yeah, why not?"  
In a single, swift motion, Stein clotheslined his stunned partner and pinned him to the hardwood floor. This sent a large and very stifling cloud of dust into the area around the two. Being closer to the explosion (and having the wind knocked out of him), Spirit went into another short spurt of coughing before noticing his predicament.  
"Well," mused Stein with an evil look in his eye, "if you plan to toss those ones out, I'll just have to replace them with new ones~!"  
Spirit's eyes widened and his body let out a small spasm at the thought of loosing another organ or appendage. He hoped Stein wouldn't switch his toes as he had joked about in the past. He wanted to protest, but fear choked words off in his throat. Then, out of nowhere, Stein sat back up on his heels and seemed to relax. Was he backing off?  
"Then again, there's the dilemma at hand that I don't have any of my tools with me…" His voice trailed off as he rubbed his chin in thought.  
Thank GOD! screamed the inner Spirit, elated in the back of his mind.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to celebrate. While Spirit was busy thanking his lucky stars that Stein didn't have a scalpel, the sadistic scientist had a mini-epiphany. His features melted into a playful smile. Slowly, he scooted lower onto Spirit's body so that his chin was resting atop his companion's stomach. He felt the muscles of the other tighten beneath him in surprise.  
"Well," drawled Stein as he nonchalantly started undoing the buttons of Spirit's shirt, "even if I don't have my tools with me, I suppose there's nothing wrong with planning things out."  
Drawing in a sharp breath, Spirit's entire body stiffened as he felt the spindly fingertips of his master walk softly back and forth along his exposed stomach.  
"Maybe…." muttered Stein as he fingered his fleshy canvas, "here~!" With that he brushed his lips against the spot in between Spirit's hip and his naval. The redhead yelped softly as the familiar sensation of blood rushing to his face came upon him. This only provoked an amused chortle from the other.  
"You always were the sensitive type, Sempai." smiled Stein.  
"I'MNOTAFRAIDOFYOU!" Spirit blurted, already too flustered to make much sense to anyone anymore. Stein just shook his head in disbelief and shifted slightly.  
"Sure you aren't." This time the set of lips contacted barely above the natural indent. Spirit shuddered and attempted to back out of reach, though to no avail. He absolutely hated to be the one being teased. Determined not to fall into old habits, he started trying to deter the predator before him.  
"Stein, we've still got work to do."  
"I think we both know you'd procrastinate from it anyways, Sempai." He kissed the spot again before crawling further up, backing his prey into a wall behind him.  
"I-I'm a married man…" gulped Spirit as he tried desperately to keep his cool.  
"Liar." was the flat reply. "You've been divorced for some time now." Spirit squirmed, squeezing his eyes shut and suppressing a small moan, as the u of his collar bone became the new target. The proximity began to weigh on him as the tip of Stein's tongue slid gracefully on its way to the weakest point on Spirit's neck. Intoxicated now by the familiar touch of the other on his skin, Spirit leaned toward his old friend begging to be closer. Muscle memory led his arms to wrap around his partner's back and cling to the cloth of his cloak. He buried his face in Stein's shoulder, in his warmth. The mix of teeth, lips and tongue continued to massage his sweet spot, tasting the pulse that raced beneath it.  
"I'm not…gh…I'm not like that anymore, Stein…" he murmured weakly.  
"Don't lie to me when your body gives you away." Stein ran his hands along Spirit's exposed skin, provoking a soft groan and a back arched in agreement to the caress.  
'He always was good at making a point.'  
"And you don't try to talk with you mouth full." hissed Spirit through gritted teeth. Stein simply scoffed and captured the insolent redhead's lips in his own. He expertly rolled his tongue in and began to re-explore old territory. Spirit's fingernails dug deeper into the stitched together trench coat as Stein's hands drifted down to thumb at a different clothing button. Through his short gasp of breath, he attempted his last escape excuse.  
"Stein…" he mumbled, "Wha would Ma—" He was cut off as Stein's lips crashed over his own again, like a wave on the shore. His coat started to fray and drag off of Stein's shoulders as the assault from above, as well as below, continued. Spirit could almost feel his alibi being swept up in the raw thoughts and impulses beating about in his brain. Somehow, he managed to organize those sweeping thoughts enough to gasp a breath for his last-ditch argument.  
"But what…what would Maka think?" he sputtered in a haze.  
"Oh, please," Stein grumbled, aggravated now by the continuous interruptions, "Maka-chan disowns you as a father every chance she gets. She can't stand you."  
In less time than it would take to blink, whatever trance had been hanging in the air before completely dissipated. Spirit's eyes snapped open and his arms shot away from their position on Stein's back.  
"Now hold on a DAMN MINUTE, STEIN!" bellowed an infuriated death scythe. Had Stein not rolled away at the moment, the razor-sharp blade of his partner's body may have cut off his arm. Although the vulnerable shape of Spirit's human from had been replaced by a thin pole and a blade, his scowl still shown clear as day reflected in the darkened metal. "Maka hasn't disowned me.. She's just…She's just a bit upset with me right now." Stein could hear the crack in Spirit's voice as the image of his face started to tear up. "She'll come around, I know it! Maka just needs…she needs a little time. BUT I KNOW SHE LOVES ME!"  
The tiny sound of a tear rolling off the curved metal and onto the floor seemed to echo in the space. After the initial second of surprise wore off, the scythe-wielder's face softened. His rough hand coiled familiarly around the length of his death scythe and lifted him away from the wall.  
"I don't doubt that." he said gently. "I don't doubt that you can change. I think that if you can overcome your vices, you can get Maka-chan back with ease."  
Spirit's face brightened, his trademark goofy smile appearing from seemingly nowhere. "Stein, you really think I could-GHT!" A firm strike of the weapon's head against the floor quickly swiped up the moment of excitement. "OW! What was that for Stein?" The Spirit refracted in the scythe rubbed his head angrily.  
Though his voice was still gentle and soft, Stein's next words had an underlying sense of gravity to them.  
"I said I didn't doubt it, but I didn't say I thought you could do it alone. I don't believe some of your worse habits to be ones so easily broken, Sempai. Seeing as how Maka-chan will always feel a bit prone to blaming you for what happened, it would be nice to have a third party to give you a hand, ne?" He spun his weapon around in his hand as it listened intently for Stein to digress back to his thesis statement. "I suppose what I'm trying to say," sighed Stein all but a bit embarrassed to be explaining his thoughts so bluntly, "is that, as both a weapon and as a person, it's your nature to need someone else's help." He gave a mordant tap to his weapon's base against the ground, shocking him back into his human state. Stein caught him up in his arms and cradled the other's head against his shoulder. Then, in barely a whisper, Stein said something that made Spirit's heart flutter and skip a beat or two. "I want to be the one who helps you. I always want to be at your side, because I…I think I love you, Sempai."  
Spirit, blushing, gave a flushed chuckle before promptly nipping Stein's earlobe. He let out a startled yelp and clapped a hand over his ear, shooting an indignant look at his attacker. Said mischievous attacker just continued to chortle at him.  
"'Spirit' will do just fine, doctor." He smiled, patronizingly.  
"I try to be sentimental and all you do is make fun of me for it?~! I have half a mind to surgically remove that smirk of yours."  
Still beaming fearlessly, Spirit entwined his arms around Stein's neck and nuzzled himself into a comfortable spot underneath Stein's chin.  
"Just like old times." He mumbled with a chuckle


End file.
